


Addiction is not a Weakness

by nursal1060



Category: Marvel, X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Acceptance, Addiction, Addiction recovery, Angst with a Happy Ending, Charles has been abusing drugs for a long time, Cherik - Freeform, Domestic Fluff, Domestic X-Men, Drama & Romance, Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Drugs, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Erik is a Father, Erik is a Sweetheart, Erik is determined to help him, Eventual Happy Ending, Family, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Secrets, Fear, Feels, Fluff and Angst, Friendship/Love, Gay, Happy Ending, Hugs, Husbands, Kissing, Love, M/M, Maximoff family, Minor Pietro Maximoff/Wanda Maximoff, Mutant Husbands, Mutant Powers, Mutants, No Smut, Platonic Romance, Post-Paralysis, Pre-X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Recovery, Side Effects, X-men - Freeform, Xavier Institute, Yaoi, coming clean, fathers, medicine abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-09-09 21:35:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8913076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nursal1060/pseuds/nursal1060
Summary: After a night of strange occurrences, Erik finds out about Charles' drug addiction and dosing problems. He's determined to help Charles through it, but after so many years, can Charles change his ways?(Domestic X-Men/Domestic Mutant Husbands/Angst and Fluff!)





	

**Author's Note:**

> A cute cherik piece from a larger highschool AU fic I wrote with my friend.  
> This fic takes place very shortly before X-Men Apocalypse's story plot~ <3  
> I really hope you enjoy it! Comments and kudos are always appreciated. <3

One evening, Erik carried Charles up the stairs to their shared bedroom. Charles was complaining of back pain in the chair from a long day of teaching, so Erik decided to get him out of his wheelchair for bed early.  
Erik lifted Charles out of the chair and placed him on the bed on his back, “Is that better? Do you need me to massage you?”  
Charles nodded, “L-Lay me on my stomach.” Erik carefully turned Charles to lay on his stomach.  
“Better?” Charles nodded. Erik pulled up his lover’s shirt to massage him. Very clearly in the middle of his back was the scar from the bullet he had gotten almost 20 years ago in Cuba. It was prominent and dark against the man's pale skin. Erik sighed in memory and massaged very carefully, not touching the scar. As he pressed into Charles’ back, he felt his husband's muscles soften.  
Erik asked, “Did you take your medicine for the evening?”  
Charles nodded slightly, “I took my pill…” Charles rubbed his face into the pillow, sighing happily, “That feels...much better…” Erik massaged the muscles a little deeper to release any tight knots. As someone in a wheelchair, all of Charles' upper body muscles were always tightened without Erik's help. It wasn’t long before Charles nodded off.  
Erik smiled sympathetically down at Charles before pulling his shirt down and kissing his forehead, “Sleep well, sweetie.” Erik left to his own room to sleep once he tucked Charles in.  
His kids, Wanda and Pietro, shook him awake in the middle of the night in a panic. “DAD!” “Dad wake up!!”  
Erik woke up instantly and asked them, “What's wrong?! Are you alright?!”  
Wanda pointed to the hall shakily, “T-Things in the house are moving...I-I swear I’m not doing it!”  
Erik turned to the hall, where was a crash coming from the other room. Erik said firmly, “You two stay right here and I’ll wake up Charles…” Erik got out of bed to follow the noise. Things in the hall looked like something out of a haunted movie, with objects floating, moving, and whirling in midair on their own. Erik cautiously walked through the house, looking through each room before he finally got to Charles’ room. Charles was whimpering and talking in his sleep. He was also now floating in sleeping position 3 feet above the bed.  
Erik rushed in and shook Charles to break the trance, calling, “Charles… Charles wake up!” Charles’ whining got more intense and things in the room moved more rapidly. Erik quickly realized that everything moving was due to Charles’ dreams. Or rather, nightmares.  
Erik shook Charles hard and yelled, “Charles! Wake up!” Everything suddenly froze in midair as he said that. Charles opened his eyes and fell out of the air. Erik caught him and placed him back onto the bed safely, asking him, “Are you alright?”  
Charles sobbed as he whispered, “I-I thought...you...you were gone…” Objects slowly started returning to their normal spots in the house.  
Erik hugged Charles and assured him, “No, no… I'm right here. I’m alright, love.”  
Charles hugged him tightly and whimpered, “That was...that was a horrible...vision…”  
Erik rubbed his back, “It's alright, Charles. It was just a nightmare.”  
Charles sobbed, “You died…I dreamt that you died…again...each night it gets more vivid.”  
Erik sat down besides him and held Charles close while his kids silently listened on in the hall, “It's just a nightmare. I'm alive, unhurt. We all are.”  
Charles touched his husband's face and said, “....you are. I was...so scared.”  
Erik smiled sadly and said to him, “I know, it's alright. I'm here, Pietro and Wanda are fine. Everything is going to be just fine.”  
Charles nodded and took a moment before he admitted the truth, “...Erik...I...sorry...this is all a side effect.”  
Erik asked, confused, “What do you mean?”  
Charles shook his head before he spoke, ashamed, “I stopped taking the sleeping painkillers after a while...I told you I was taking them...but...I don't like being on medicine...even if it makes me less crazy. S-So, I’ve not been taking them, and then...then I tried to make up all the doses I missed...and then the nightmares started. S-So I missed my dose today...to compensate...”  
Erik held him and told him, very concerned, “Charles… It's extremely dangerous to experiment with drugs… I was certain you learned that lesson a long time ago…you of all people should know how risky it is.”  
Charles sighed and admitted again, “I know…but I always do this. I've done this for years...bad habits aren't easily broken.”  
Erik begged him, “Please…take the medicine tonight, it’ll help.”  
Charles complained, “…I hate the way the drugs make me feel…they make me feel so unlike myself. I don’t want to change because I took them...but if I don't take the right number...I get weak...”  
Erik said sternly but gently, “It's dangerous if you stop or take too many at once. Taking a week or a month's worth of a pills at a single time can cause an overdose. It could cause you even more harm...if you really want to stop you need to talk to Hank about this, I can’t let you stop without an okay from him.”  
Charles shook his head and begged him, “Please don't tell Hank what I’ve been doing…he’d only give me a stronger dose as compensation for missing so many…and then...oh god...I don't want to be force fed my doses again...” He sobbed at the memory. Wanda and Pietro looked at each other in the hall, completely unaware that their stepfather had suffered from substance abuse, overdosing, and improper drugging for years.  
Erik said as he turned Charles to look at him, “Then promise you’ll take the right dose of medicine that you have now and not skip or fake any doses. No spitting, cheeking, or 'forgetting'.”  
Charles sighed, “You'll have to put them in my mouth and stay. If you do that I'll take them.”  
Erik got out the chalky pill and put it in Charles’ mouth. He had to hold it for a bit on his tongue while Charles hyperventilated before taking it in and swallowing it with some resistance. He clearly hated the drugs but it was too risky for a mutant as strong as Charles to avoid his stabilizing, pain numbing medication. If he missed any, he knew that Erik would know and worse things could happen if Hank found out.  
Erik kissed Charles’ forehead, “Open up. I want to check that it's gone.” Charles opened his mouth and Erik checked carefully.  
Erik smiled, “Good job, I'm proud of you.”  
Charles sighed, “I feel weird…taking a proper dose...for once.”  
Erik comforted, “I know, but it's okay. Try to get to sleep, it'll help.”  
Charles asked, “Can I sleep in your room?” Erik nodded and carried Charles to his room. Wanda and Pietro made sure to back away from the room before their dads saw them peeking.  
Wanda asked as they got back to Erik’s room, “Is everyone okay? Did the floating stop?”  
Erik said, “Everything’s fine, the lot of you need to go back to bed.”  
Pietro yawned, “About time…” The twins left the room to go back to bed.  
Erik glared as they left and went to Charles who was lying on the bed, “Are you alright?”  
Charles held onto Erik'a arm and said, “Please...ah...don't let me hurt you...in your sleep.”  
Erik held him close as he got into the bed, “You won't. Now try to relax.”  
Charles breathed heavily as he clung to him, “Erik…I…”  
Erik asked, “Yes? What?”  
Charles whispered, “Please don't let me go. I don't want to go through this alone.”  
Erik laid down and said, “I'm not going anywhere. You need me, and I won’t let you forget I’m here for you”  
Charles hugged him, “Good…”  
Erik whispered, “Good night, Charles.”  
Charles spoke softly, “Good night…” The next morning, Erik woke up with Charles sleeping right by him. Erik smiled and kissed Charles’ nose. Charles shuffled a little and continued to sleep peacefully. It would be a long way to recovery for his husband, but Erik was ready to take it one day at a time with him.


End file.
